1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an equipment control apparatus for transmitting data on equipment conditions to a centralized control unit by means of communication.
2. Related Background Art
A demand for copying machines provided with various additional functions and their sophistication is on the increase. As copying machines become complicated in not only construction but also function and as the number of copying machines in a business increases, the tendency is for the normal operating condition of and functional data on the copying machines to be kept under the centralized control of the administrative division of such a business or the specialized trade in order to facilitate proper maintenance and repair work, to say nothing of control of the use and operation of them.
For the reason stated above, known copying machines, as disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,084,875, are equipped with communication control means for keeping communication with external units through communication circuits so that data can be exchanged, periodically or whenever necessary, with the external units installed in the administrative division or other places.
When a sort of copying machine proposed is requested to start communication through a communication circuit, it is so designed as to start communication on condition that an access is judged licit after an identification code (hereinafter called ID) and a password are checked.
Notwithstanding, an illicit access may be gained in case the ID and the password have leaked out because an ID as well as a password is only the way of recognizing a partner requesting a communication start and this has posed a serious problem in keeping secrecy. It is also necessary to provide means for storing IDs and passwords of authorized partners on the part of a copying machine to accept any request for a communication start.
The means for recognizing a request for a communication start operates to recognize the request therefor according to a specific protocol after identifying the ID and password of a partner requesting a communication start. Consequently, the necessity of providing IDs and passwords, decision means and procedures tends to complicate the construction and control of such means. Moreover, the problem is that an improper access may be gained when the IDs and the passwords have leaked out.